Modern science has taught us a lot about the brain. Cognitive psychology is a field of training that explores the mental processes. Many thought leaders in the business space are now combining the research of how to alter the brain to coach others to do what they want.
To be challenged is to pursue a 1% improvement today versus yesterday. To be challenged means to go against what is current in order to achieve some degree of growth. This is most recognizable in sports athletes who train to compete at the highest levels. When they can achieve a 1% improvement, they can see a significant amount of results. But, even if you break down their efforts into daily chunks, you would see that momentum doesn’t happen overnight, it happens gradually.
We should consider the same thing in our cognitive processes, that is, our thinking. But we should also think about it in terms of our physical challenges.
If I was to separate the mind and the brain completely from one another, which we know in reality we can’t, but for purposes of understanding how they influence each other, this can be helpful. So, if I was to separate the two, the brain is the system of triggers that results in a learned action. There are many books on habits, two of which I’ve read are “Atomic Habits” and “The Power of Habit”. Habits are all about retraining the brain to function automatically. This is all about rewiring the brains chemistry in order to achieve a desired outcome.
Retraining the brain comes first, and is possible. But the other component of the brain is the mind itself. The mind is the thinking behind the circumstances that we find ourselves in, both internal and external, and then also over our biology itself. In effect, it is what we think about when it comes to our internal, external, and physical realities.
We’re learning what it means to get closer to our heart when we understand how the brain and the mind are connected. And that is, the heart is the center of our desire. When we can bring these three together, the brain (our default triggers), our mind (our thoughts about our reality), and our heart (our desires), we can see incredible things happen.
When we turn our attention to mental diagnoses, it is easy to think that we don’t have control over improvements. But the truth is we primarily have control over our emotions. Because emotions, which points to what is in our heart and our desires, are what lead to learned actions and thus, the chemical rewiring of our brain.
When our thoughts conflict with our realities for long periods of time, our brain can become confused and become sick. Our mind reaps the results because our brain’s triggers are thrown off, therefore our mind is not right. This is when you have mental breakdowns that can result in medical diagnosis such as bipolar, schizophrenia, suicidal thoughts and more. Doctors react to the symptoms and diagnose the patient but this is not the root of the problem.
How do I know this? Because they only point to the chemical reaction and to the story of how I behaved in my manic episodes. The reality is true, in that, my mind was not right and as my psychiatrist told me, I did not have control during my manic episode.
Why do I point this out? Because the root as the psychiatrist explained is back to my childhood and my inability to process my emotions in a healthy way.
Emotions are linked to our desires, which means to say mental diagnosis are connected to our heart’s desires not being met. They are connected to our heart not receiving the right signal from the brain that has built up over time. One of those signals possibly being, “I’m not good enough”.
Repeat that to yourself enough times and you’re likely to have a physical problem. Add to that the emotional capacity of a toddler or a newborn, and you have the inability to understand what your heart is communicating to your body and your mind. There are literally wires not computing in your brain, your mind, and your heart. They are not talking to each other.
What I am trying to say is, you need your emotions, your feelings, and your thoughts to work together, not against each other. Your brain offers the triggers that can connect your current reality with your desired result. But there is a challenge in front of everyone at every stage of our lives that we have to work to overcome, otherwise, we are overcome by them. We resort to living with them.
This is exactly what God is saying in John 20:23 “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”
If you don’t forgive not only do they not get forgiveness but they can also give birth to sins in those whom they come in contact with. This passage is not about forgiveness. It is about the Holy Spirit. John 20:19-22 is the first time that the disciples have seen Jesus after he rose from the grave and the Holy Spirit is given to them when Jesus says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” The next thing he talks about is forgiveness. This passage is about the indwelling Spirit of God when Jesus leaves them. The Spirit of God is literally quenched. The movement of God can only go so far when there is unforgiveness but unforgiveness, simply explained is hardness of heart. We are not able to open up our heart to the truth of who we are and who God has made us to be.
Remember the dumbed down definition of sin, “be careful what you wish for”. The mind, the heart, and the body must come together in unison with the thoughts, the emotions, and the feelings/biology. Without these three parts working together, we have an incomplete person. We not only have an incomplete person, we have a soul that has their spiritual maturity stunted. The Holy Spirit is quenched when you resurface that unforgiveness and are not able to trust, to believe, to have faith.
If you know what it’s like, at times feelings come and go, fade in and fade out. You can ignore feelings for years without them being at the forefront. But one wrong experience and that feeling is right back in the drivers seat again. This is how unforgiveness, and what you wish for “sin” can be so pernicious. You need forgiveness in order to be a whole person. And you need the Holy Spirit to be complete.
We must be ready for the next challenge, where we can become 1% better. Simply working out every day is a challenge to see improvement. It gives the body endorphins which make you feel better and improve your mood. Challenging work brings improvement. We need to challenge ourselves to bring our true feelings to the table so that our emotions can be healed and our thoughts can be transformed. This is what it means to be renewing our minds as the passage says. Because out of our mind, our thoughts, flow the desires of our heart and the actions are what we do with those thoughts and desires. We must learn to control our desires, and with them, our thoughts.
The brain’s part is to show us the triggers, the chemical reaction, that points to the psychology of a human, someone with a mind, a body, and a soul (a heart). In my mental diagnosis, this was a chemical reaction gone awry. This is not my identity. Do I have control over the chemical reaction? No, but my goal is to bring the mind, body, and soul into a synergy where they work together, and not against each other.
I want to pursue the challenge of knowing what’s in my heart and practicing releasing it to God. If you don’t know how to do that, get an emotional coach that will help you wade through the emotions that tell you how to observe those deep seated feelings that will help you grow and tell the truth about your feelings instead of suppressing them.
Our truest self is one in which our mind, body, and soul (heart) are communicating to God its deepest needs, our deepest desires. This is where God is able to reach out to us and intersect or “intercede” on our behalf so that we can be in relationship with Him, minute by minute, day by day, week by week. Until we reach Heaven.